Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-05-11
DwARFs AND NfIDGETs.
The Whims and Oddities OF These
Little People.

The WhIms and Oddities OF These
Little People.
'The dwarf business isn't what it
once was"
"Then, too" continued Mr.. Wheeler,
'dwarfs are running out. A few years
ago they were springing up, though not
very high, In all parts of the world. 1t
seemed to be a sort Of dwarf age. For
a while 35-inch dwarf could not earn
a living salary. He had to possess some
striking physical feature if he hoped to
/ secure permanent situations with mu-
scum circuits. Now, however all this
has changed. Lots of the old-time
Lilliputians have passed away, and a
40-inch freak can get chair in first
class curio hall if he is good looking
and intelligent. The business was very
nearly ruined at one time by tricksters.
/ As you have possibly observed, midgets
without exception have abnormalIy
large heads. Unprincipaled showmen,
when the dwarf supply became made
quate, would take children with large
heads and old faces and work them
upon the circuits. There suddenly be-
came such an influx of little folks on
the market that none of the true midg-
cts aside from Mrs. Stratton or Admiral
Dot could get work that paid. This
has passed away, and there is no fraud
about the present representatives of
dwarfdom.
Il never saw but two perfectly
formed midgets. These were Mrs. Gen.
Tom Thumb, who is now Countess
Rosebud, and Princess Lucy. There is
always some deformity. Take General
Thumb for instance. He was badly
developed in the torso. Other people
have poorly constructed limbs or arms,
and almost univei sally they are double
JOinted at the knees or elbows. You
see the lack of stature must be attribu-
table to something, and rs nearly as l
can make out it is in the joints.
What is the most striking character
iStic of these freaks? Intemperance.
There is no class of people on earth so
given to drink. The males always like
whiskey, and the females dote on beer.
Gen. Thumb was fond of smoking, but
aside from him tobacco is not used
among the men.
81 never knew of but one family
wherein dwarfs appeared in more than
one generation. This occurred in that
of Admiral Dot. He is the uncle of
Major Adams, the midget clown of the
Barnum show. Adams is twenty-One
inches in height, and his father is nearly
six feet tall. Dot is travelling about the
country now with little Jennie Quigley.
They earn jointly 500 week.
Speaking about Princess Lucy re-
minds Inc of the event that brought her
in.O prominence. Years ago, when the
Countess Rosebud was Mrs. Tom
Thumb, report was circulated that
she had been blessed with Il child. This
was not the case, and the story was made
out of the whole cloth by one of Bar
NUNS advertising agents. The Thumb
family were unconseientious enough to
take advantage of the canard. They
had heard of the little Princess Lucy.
and Mrs. Thumb sent for her and
offered to adopt her, send her to a con-
vent for few years, and then Introduce
her to the world as her daughter. The
scheme was capital one, for it is i'm
possible to tell whether Lucy is or 40
years old The princess declined the
offer. She is now earning $500 week
fer being eighteen inches high.
There are several instances where
midgets appeared in a single generation
of the family. The Harris sisters are
quadruplets. They vary in height from
thirty-Six to forty-twO inches, and are !
daughters of very poor man in East !
port, Me. The father a mechanic, was |
a magnificent specimen Of physical man-
hood, large and powerful of build, and
the mother was above medium size. !
These sisters are badly deformed, all of
them having dOuble-jointed elbows.
Besides this they enjoy the reputation
of being the homelieSt midgetS in the
profession. Young Foster, whose nom
de museum is Hop o. My Thumb, - is
inches tall. He has baby
brother, not yet a year old that weighed
when ten days old one and one-ha!f
pounds.
Lucy Zirata earns the largest salary
Df any dwarf in the world. She is Il
native of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and is
very small. Her head is proportional
nicely to her physique. but is shaped
ike that of an ape. Joseph Smith is
l..
ler manager, and he gets $500 week
'or exhibiting her. The little women
,annOt win the affections of full-grown |
mankind, but the men are more fOrtu- {
late. Baron Littlefnger married q
ady over five feet tall, and is the happy 1
ather Of four fine children. The late
Commodore Mutt welded a Manchester, a
\. H., girl five feet five inches tall, and '
eft one child at his death. Minnie I
Warren, sister of the Countess Rosebud.
t is true, married roller-skater named j
Newell, who was with Nat Goodwin in 5
he Skating Rink" Newell, how 4
ver, while hardly midget, is greatly
lnder size. r
''Alidgets are 4 nervous lot, and few @
# them are more than paSsably intelli- [
,ent. They fly off on tangent like a c
love from hornets nest. Hop o. Ny '
Thumb is the ugliest yOungster of them :
IL, and he frequently indulges in S
pasms of rage. Dangerous? Well, as
much as twenty-eight inches of human =
ty could be expected to be-" :
Peat BoSs in Russia. 7
A Russian official report states that G